Scouting and Christianity?

Baden-Powell may well have said "Scouting is applied Christianity," but I am not so sure that the modern BSA should be associated with Christianity, as in the sentence

As a result of their strong adherence to traditional Christian morality...

It seems to me that the Boys Scouts are better characterized, not as Christian, but as embracing the sort of "generic religion" espoused by Benjamin Franklin. The BSA mission and vision statements mention God and reverence, but make no reference to Christianity. BSA fact sheets include titles such as

Interesting points, but this seems to be on the fringe of Scouting. Christian schools often welcome non-Christians also. In the U.S., Boy Scouts tend to be overwhelmingly Christian.--Aschlafly 22:29, 23 February 2007 (EST)

I think that the comment about Christian morality can be interpreted in a couple different ways. In a nutshell, BSA is based upon Christian morality, even though there is no "official" requirement within the program that Scouts be a Christian. Although I did have to switch troops because one troop would not let me advance because I was a Baptist rather than a Nazarene. Religious emblems are awarded to Christians, and for other religions as well. I know that the religious emblems aren't given out by the BSA, but the BSA literature did reference the pamphlets for the other one. I remember that my troop brought in a speaker once who talked about the twelth point of the Scout law and said that it didn't matter what you believed as long as you believe something. I did come across Jewish and Mormon troops I know the Mormons have strongly embraced the Scouting programs.

However, it's undeniable that the BSA's principled are strongly based upon Christian morality, even if there are a number of non-Christians within the program. MountainDew 02:30, 5 March 2007 (EST)

"BSA is based upon Christian morality"? Well, I never noticed it. What I did see was a strong basis of respect for the environment, social activism, general "reverent" ecumenism, and paramilitary organization in order to keep everyone safe and "get the job done". Human 02:43, 23 April 2007 (EDT)

National BSA has taken the position that a Scout must believe in a higher power. What that higher power may be is up for interpretation. ColinRtalk 03:09, 23 April 2007 (EDT)

I hate to be the one who wets the blanket but the morals that the BSA upholds are fairly universal and exist outside the christian communityas opposed to only inside, indeed also exist outside any theological community as well. Jros83 16:37, 27 June 2007 (EDT)

When I was in Scouts, they brought in a speaker who said that you can't be an atheist, but otherwise, they don't care as long as you believe something. DanH 16:38, 27 June 2007 (EDT)

And yet, you can be an atheist nonetheless. Jros83 16:45, 27 June 2007 (EDT)

You would just have to keep quiet about it, and when they ask you about your religious beliefs when you're going for Eagle, lie. Part of the process involves a recommendation from a religious leader. If there isn't anybody available to do that for you, you have to write a paper about what you believe. DanH 16:47, 27 June 2007 (EDT)

Dan my point is, you could adhere to a nature based theology and it would technically be alright. Even a pure atheist can have metaphysical beliefs that can be interpreted as a higher power/powers. The BAS is not Judeo-Christian only. Jros83 02:06, 28 June 2007 (EDT)

You could lie and say your Shinto or some thing they wouldn’t want to look up - that’s what I did--duo 23:28, 22 March 2008 (EDT)

Discuss proposed changes here while the article is locked

As a protection against vandalism, this article has temporarily been locked from editing. If there's anything you want to change or add to this article, discuss it here or on my TalkPage. MountainDew 01:38, 29 March 2007 (EDT)

Hi, I was just looking around and noticed "Organisations" in the article. It needs to be changed to "organizations." Thanks.

Thanks! I changed a couple of them, however Conservapedia has now dropped the proibition against UK English spellings. ;-) --~ TerryKMyTalk 22:07, 29 March 2007 (EDT)

I was a boy scout =)

Den mothers

If that's the case, I had two male den mothers back in the day. DanH 03:16, 23 April 2007 (EDT)

Adding Organizational Coherence

This article does not flow well. I would like to begin re-organizing it, but I will not delete any contributions. I aim to re-organize it and add to it. Stryker 11:09, 28 June 2007 (EDT)

Eagle Scout requirements

The article correctly states that 21 merit badges are required for Eagle. However, it also stated that they must be earned within the Scout's last three ranks. Unless something has changed since I got Eagle four years ago, I don't think it matters when the merit badges were earned. Could somebody, maybe somebody who is currently involved in the Scouts as a leader or a Scout, shed some light on this? DanH 20:02, 12 April 2008 (EDT)

Good question. Don't know myself, but I am looking for ways to help the Scouts against the well-financed attacks against them.--Aschlafly 20:17, 12 April 2008 (EDT)

I am a Boy Scout, and I can assure you that it does not matter when you earn the merit badges. p.s. I'm new to MediaWiki, how do I sign/indent a comment?

Other Branches of Scouting

Should we include Venturing and Varsity, as well as past branches such as Explorers? --Xparasite9 15:47, 4 August 2008 (EDT)

International Scouting

All of the information about International Scouting ... or the "Scouting Movement" on an international level should more appropriately be moved to its own article. The Boy Scouts of America is not the same as International Scouting. While there are international "Jamborees," which all scouts from Boy Scouts of America have the option to attend, they are in no way the same type of organization as the world's scouts are in terms of values, institutions, etc.. As an Eagle Scout myself, I was a bit offended when I came across this article and noticed that two separate organizations were crisscrossed throughout as if they are both one and the same. They are not. DerekE 22:03, 14 November 2009 (EST)

good point; I added the international article and expanded the one on BSA. RJJensen 03:10, 16 November 2009 (EST)

Rush

The Limbaugh quote has zero content about BSA, and he never bothered to join himself. RJJensen 21:04, 17 November 2009 (EST)

The quote was intended to provide meaningful context to the BSA's values and that of America in all its history, the differences between international scouting and the Boy Scouts of America. While it's true that Rush Limbaugh never did make Eagle Scout, he made it all the way through Cub Scouting and was a Tenderfoot in the BSA for a year. But the quote was suppose to be more about what it is saying rather than who is saying it; the BSA's mission is to prepare young men to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law, which are guiding principles that have made America the great country that it is today. But if you feel strongly that it is more important to focus on the 'manliness' of scouting rather than what it's trying to teach young Americans, it's fine with me. DerekE 21:51, 17 November 2009 (EST)

I read Rush's speech. his speechwriter is incompetent and let him down. We know a lot more about BSA than Rush does. The article clearly covers both the explicit and the implict goals of the organization--and yes , they include masculinity. (it's the BOY scouts,after all.) RJJensen 22:39, 17 November 2009 (EST)

Haha--I do agree, Rush got off topic a bit too often. It took some combing through the speech to pick out the important parts. And you're are right, masculinity is definitely a major part of the scouting program; the activities, most of the merit badge requirements (aside from the Basket weaving merit badge), the competitive spirit, and the list goes on. Maybe there needs to be more info about the different merit badges and camping activities? There's a lot of different awards that can be earned, like the 50-100 mile hiking badge, and a ton of other various milestones that scouts can gain recognition for. So you're definitely correct - if there's more context to be added in the article it should be less generalizing and more specifics. DerekE 23:01, 17 November 2009 (EST)

agreed. I think links to the appropriate BSA pages are a good idea; they describe their own programs pretty well. RJJensen 23:05, 17 November 2009 (EST)

Scouting and Mormonism

@Aschlafly Re:reverting my edits regarding mormons and boy scouts. this issue is well documented and well known, especially throughout communities in the Western United States. Growing up in a small Montana town composed of Lutherans, Catholics, Mormons, and other denominations, i experienced first hand the issues that it caused in boy scouts. This issues is equally, if not more, important than the gay and atheist controversies currently mentioned in the article. Christian parents interested in having their son(s) involved in Boy Scouts need to know how to avoid this pitfall. i provided credible citations for my claims according to Conservapedia standards, so i don't understand the reasoning for reverting my edits. --DavidKeyes 15:20, 13 December 2009 (EST)